Off-duty LAPD lieutenant fires at car after witnessing drive-by shooting in El Sereno, police say

An off-duty Los Angeles Police Department lieutenant fired his handgun at a moving car Wednesday after witnessing men inside the vehicle shoot a man on an El Sereno sidewalk, a department spokeswoman said.

Two men in a dark-colored sedan pulled up alongside a man in the 3100 block of Pueblo Avenue and opened fire, wounding the man, said Det. Meghan Aguilar. The lieutenant witnessed the shooting and saw the car coming in his direction, Aguilar said. He fired his handgun at the two men inside the vehicle, which did not stop, according to Aguilar.

The car was described only as a compact, older-model dark sedan.

Aguilar said it was unknown whether anyone inside the car was hit, but so far no one has sought medical treatment for injuries in connection with the shooting. The man shot on the sidewalk was taken to a hospital and is listed in critical condition, she added. He was in surgery Wednesday afternoon, the LAPD wrote on Twitter.

The shooting is being investigated by the LAPD’s Force Investigation Division, as is standard practice.

LAPD policy has long prohibited shooting into a moving vehicle unless its occupants are a threat to an officer or another person. Something other than the vehicle itself must constitute that threat, according to department policy.